Snap-hook



no Model.)

A N.BRAG.G,

' I sm? HOOK.

No. 252,015. Patented Jam 10.188 2.

. UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANDRElV N. BRAGG, OF PINE MEADOW, OONNEOTIGUI.

sNAP-Ho'o K.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 252,015, dated January 1882. I

Application filed August 30, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANDREW N. BRAGG, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Pine Meadow, county of Litch field, State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Snap-Hooks, .of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification. A

My invention relates to that class of snaphooks which have a bolt moving back and forth in a recess in the shank of the hook, and which is held against the point of the book by means of a spring.

As these snap-hooks havebeen heretofore constructed the shank has been cast hollowin the form of a tube, which necessarily required the use of a core in the casting, and the employment of which is always attended with dif ficulties and increased expense; or the shank has been cast with an open groove or recess, into which the bolt could be dropped, but which required the use of an additional piece or covering-plate to keep the bolt in place.

My improvement is intended to do away with the necessity of casting the hook-shank with a core and the use ot'an additional covering-plate, and also assures a more perfect operation of a the bolt, and I thus produce an article which is both cheaper in construction and at the same time more perfect in its action.

In the snap-hook as devised by me the shank is cast with an open groovl'e, thus obviating the necessity of the use ofa core in its casting, and on each edge of the groove are two or more lips or; ears capable of being bent over the groove; and the bolt, instead of moving in the hollow groovetof'the shank, movesvin a tube which is inserted in the shank-groove, and which is held therein by the bending over ofthe lips or cars referred to, and by a little projection, a, on the bottom of the groove in front of the tube or entering a recess'in the tube or equivalent device. This mode of construction obviates the necessity of casting the hook with a core,

and as the tube is drawn from brass, steel, or

some such metal, the interior in which the bolt moves will be much smoother than can be possible with a casting, and thus the snap will work more perfectly than in the snap-hook as now made.

The manner of constructing my snap-hook the tube in which it moves.

is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which similar letters indicate like parts.

Figure 1 is a front view of the complete snaphook, showing all the severalparts in. position, part of the inclosed tube being broken away to show the spring which holds the bolt against the end of the hook. Fig. 2 is a side view of the hook as it is cast and without the bolt and Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the bolt-tube with the bolt 31K spring therein.

As will be seen from Fig. 2, the hook A A is cast with a hollowed or recessed shank, A, as indicated at c, and is also provided at each end of such recess with projections or ears E E E E, Figs. 1 and Into this cavity or recess c of the shank I place a tube, '1, made of brass, steel, or some such metal, which tube, after havin g been placed in the recess 0, is held firmly in place by means of the ears E, which are bent down or over the recess and projee tion a, as shown in Fig. 1. No special manipulation is required in inserting the tube. It is only necessary to drop it into the recess and turn down the ears E E, and the fastening is complete. This tube T, which may be drawn or rolled from a strip of brass, steel, or such metal, contains the spring S and bolt B, and is provided with a slot, 25, tor part of its length, in which slides the shank of the knob b, by which .the bolt is pressed back when the snap is unlocked. The bolt, when thrown forward byits spring, strikes against the end of the hooked part A and forms a complete or closed link, to retain or'hold anything to which the hook is fixed, and thereby the bolt is also prevented from becoming detached from the book. A snap-hook such asI have described above can be much more cheaply made than one in which the shank is cast with a core, and the tube being drawn or rolled will be free from all the roughness likely to be found in the cast hollow of the shank, and therefore alllows the spring to act and the bolt to move much more freely than they can or practically will in the snap-hooks as heretofore made. The bolt is also of the simplest form, and can be made at minimum expense. Ifthe tube is made of brass or such similar metal, the liability to rust is much less than in the snap-hooks as now made. The use of any additional piece or plate to confine the bolt in place in the recess of the shank is also dispensed with, this beingeffected by 2. The combination, in a snap-hook, with a simply bending over the lips or ears E after recessed or hollow shank provided with lips or 15 the tube and bolt has been inserted therein. ears E E, as described, of an inclosed separate If for any reason desired, as in making small bolt-tube, T, and bolt B, and spring S, sub- 5 light hooks, the tube T can be dispensed with, stantially as and for the purposes described.

though its use for the reasons mentioned is 3. The combination, in a snap-hook, with a.

deemed preferable and most desirable. recessed or hollowed shank, of a bolt-tube, T, 20

What is claimed is bolt B, and spring S, substantially as and for 1. Asnap-hook haviugits shank formed with the purposes set forth. 10 an open hollowed recess, with folding ears or I ANDREW N. BRAGG.

lips E E at. each end thereof, and carrying a Witnesses: spring-bolt, substantially as and for the, pur- ORRIN FITCH, poses set forth. ROBERhR. SMITH. 

